Shoulder strap



OUGILII nuum NOV. 24, 1942. 5 STEIN SHOULDER STRAP Filed Dec. 10, 1941Pate ted Nov. 24, 1942 SHOULDER STRAP Sara Stein, Brooklyn, N. Y.,assignor to Bali Brassicre Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew York Application December 10, 1941, Serial No. 422,352

13 Claims.

This invention relates to the art of making strap devices, and hasparticular reference to shoulder straps such as those which are used forfoundation garments and are consequently in direct contact with the skinof the wearer.

In shoulder straps for foundation garments such as brassires and thelike, considerable difliculty has been encountered in the attempt toprovide a shoulder strap whose outer or upper face would be free of anystitching, and whose underside would be so smooth and uniform as toavoid objectionable frictional contact with the skin of the wearer orcutting engagement therewith. The solution has been especially difficultto find because such shoulder straps have to be made of a textile fabricwhich is preferably like that of the foundation garment itself, and alsobecause such shoulder straps have to be relatively narrow in order to beinconspicuous, and because they must often support a rather considerabletension, especially in the case of women who are fleshy or have largebusts. Although the art has tried many different expedients and hasconstantly endeavored to find a satisfactory shoulder strap, no shoulderstrap has to my knowledge been heretofore produced whose outer facewould be free of stitching and whose underside would avoid excessivefrictional contact with the skin or cutting thereof as by reason of thehardness imparted by a row of stitches, and which would also be free ofobjectionable wrinkling, and wherein unraveling of the seam would beprevented in the event of breakage of a stitch.

One object of the invention is therefore to provide a strap device suchas a shoulder strap which avoids the difficulties herein mentioned andpossesses the several advantages desired, such shoulder strap beingrelatively narrow, thin, neat in appearance, free of stitching on itsouter face, non-wrinkling, and adapted for soft contact with the skin ofthe wearer; it will not unravel in the event of breakage of a stitch,and is durable, strong and eflicient in use.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a shoulderstrap which is adapted for high speed quantity production in a verysimple and inexpensive manner.

Another object of the invention is to furnish an improved process forthe manufacture of such a shoulder strap.

Other objects and. advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe specification proceeds.

With the aforesaid objects in view, the invention consists in the novelLil combinations and 55 arrangements of parts hereinafter described intheir preferred embodiments, pointed out in the subjoined claims, andillustrated in the annexed drawing, wherein like parts are designated bythe same reference characters throughout the everal views.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation showing a. foundation garmenthaving a shoulder strap embcdying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top view of the improved shoulderstrap.

Fig. 3 is a similar bottom view thereof with a part in section.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view with a part in section illustrating theprocess for producing the improved shoulder strap.

The advantages of the invention as here outlined are best outlined whenall of its features and instrumentalities are combined in one and thesame structure, but, useful devices may be produced embodying less thanthe whole.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the inventionappertains, that the same may be incorporated in several differentconstructions. The accompanying drawing, there fore, is submitted merelyas showing the preferred exemplification of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing, Ill denotes a foundation garmentsuch as a brassiere having shoulder straps ll embodying the invention.It will be noted that the shoulder strap at the right is partiallyturned over to show the underside thereof. Accordingly it is seen thatthe top or outer face of the shoulder strap is free of any sign ofstitching, thereby producing a very neat and attractive effect,especially as its outside fa ce is provided by fabric of the sametexture and color as the main body portions of the brassire. Whateverstitching is employed, it appears wholly on the underside of theshoulder strap as indicated at l2 adjoining the seam line [3. At certainintervals, and as hereinafter explained, the stitching catches throughinto the outer face portion of the shoulder strap producing minuteindentations as indicated at M due to the tension of the thread, butthis effect is so inconspicuous as to be hardly visible.

More particularly, the shoulder strap II comprises a strip member l5consisting of natural or artificial silk or other suitable textilematerial, and being folded along opposite lines at If; to thus provide afront or outer wall 11 and a rear or bottom wall that includes thesections l8. The latter are marginally infolded at l9 to produce theinturned portions 20. Within the generally tubular structure thusprovided is positioned a strip element 2| that may consist of felt orother suitable soft material and which extends substantially from edgeto edge of the shoulder strap.

An important feature of the invention is that the fold portions at I9form a piping or small tubes which are in direct abutment with eachother along the seam line l3. Thereby a cushioning effect is produced atthe seam supplemental to that afforded by the felt strip 2|, and anyhardness or friction which may be caused by exposed stitching isavoided.

The stitching I2 is of such a character as to tend to maintain thesoftness of the shoulder strap. Preferably it consists of a series ofstitches 22 which follow the path of an arc transverse to the shoulderstrap. Each of these stitches passes through the walls I8 and theinturned portions and also through the felt element 2|. At predeterminedspaced intervals certain of these stitches such as 22a also engage orpartially enter the front or outer wall in a blind stitch manner asshown in Fig. 4, resulting in the indentations at l4. This blindstitching at 22a anchors together the opposed walls of the shoulderstrap so as to prevent any curling or wrinkling, and this action is ofcourse supplemented by the felt strip 2|.

It is a feature of the invention that the arcuate stitches shown at 22and 22a act angularly, so that any tension thereon is taken up at leastpartially along the plane of the shoulder strap. This results in amarked improvement as against stitching which passes directly through ashoulder strap at right angles to the plane thereof, this causing anarea of hardness due to the compression resulting from the tension ofthe thread. Moreover, this arcuate or angular stitching is at leastpartially of a floating character, because of the flexibility of theparts with which it engages. Accordingly, the shoulder strap readilyconforms to the body of the wearer and adapts itself inherently to anyirregularities which may be caused by a person's body or which mayresult from the manner in which the shoulder strap is applied.

The arcuate stitching referred to co-operates in an improved manner toproduce and maintain the tubular cushioning formations l9 along theseam. Thus each stitch may include thread portions such as 23 and 24which overlie the wall sections IS in close proximity to the tubularformations l9, and by exerting a predetermined tension, cause the seamto slightly bulge so as to maintain an open cushioning effect, wherebythe exposed thread at 23, 24 will not have objectionable frictionalcontact with the skin. The felt element 2| cooperates for causing thestitch thread to maintain a somewhat yielding tension on the tubularformations l9. Overlapping of the latter due to the stitches isprevented because the thread passes through the felt element 2| almostat a substantial angle. The felt element thus acts as a spacer for themarginal portions l9.

More particularly, the stitching is in the nature of a lock stitch sothat it will not unravel or readily open up if one of the stitches isbroken. The

side of the seam engaged by the thread 24 may be regarded as the bobbinside, whereas the side 23 is the needle side. The thread 23 is thereforequite smooth throughout, whereas at the thread 24, points ofinterlocking occur at the surface of the fabric as indicated at 25.However, these points of interlock are quite small so that the bulgingportions l9 readily cushion against the seam.

With the present invention the seam as well as its stitching is locatedcentrally and is wholly free and spaced from the edge portions of theshoulder strap to avoid cutting into the flesh. Also the seam portionitself is inherently soft and cushioned to avoid objectionablefrictional contact with the skin of the wearer. The structur of theshoulder strap is such that curling and wrinkling are avoided.Unraveling of the seam by the breakage of a single stitch is prevented,thus overcoming one of the principal objections in certain prior artdevices. And finally, the shoulder strap may be made very thin and quitenarrow and is free of any stitching on its outer face. It may be readilylaundered without any change in its structural or functionalcharacteristics, and is neat in appearance, strong, durable, andefficient in use.

The process for reducing the shoulder strap H for high speed quantityproduction in a simple and inexpensive manner will now be described byreference to Fig. 5. The felt element 2| is centrally superposed on thestrip member l5, and the latter is folded, preferably by means of asuitable folding attachment on a sewing machine. This folding producesthe inturned marginal portions 20 and the wall sections IS, theoperation occuring in a continuous graduated manner. In a like mannerthe structure is centrally folded as indicated at 26 to thus expose thecentral part of the felt element 2|, and to bring the marginal portionsl9 into spaced relation with each other as shown. While thus positioned,a needle 21 of arcuate form reciprocates back and forth to produce thestitches 22 and 22a. In order to cause the stitches to engage the frontwall part IT, a strip member 28 which may be used to aid in theproduction of the reverse fold at 2B, is reciprocated at predeterminedintervals so that the needle may penetrate sufficiently for a blindstitch engagement with the front wall ll. As the stitching operation iscompleted, the shoulder strap tends to flatten out and ultimatelyassumes the positions engaged in Figs. 3 and 4, with the marginalportions |9 coming into the desired degree of abutment relation witheach other to form the tubular portions along th seam. It will be notedthat this is possible by reason of the fact that in course of sewing theshoulder strap, it is folded into substantially U-form as shown in Fig.5 so that the marginal portions l 9 become rather widely spaced fromeach other.

It is important to note that the central folding at 26 is such as toproduce a U cross section, and preferably the sides of the U are asclose together as the thinness of the guide 28 will permit. Hence thestitch thread passes through th felt element 2| substantially at rightangles, but the appearance of the thread changes when the strap is laidout fiat, and especially due to yielding of the fabrics, so that itappears to be of arcuate form. Therefore, when the shoulder strap hasbeen completed and is flattened out, the stitching pulls mainly downwardon the marginal portions l9, instead of pulling them mainly toward eachother, to such a degree as to cause them to overlap on each other andform an uncomfortable protrusion. Although the stitching is effectedunder low tension, this action is important, and in this regard the feltelement 2| has an essential function as a spacer., Without the spacingcontrol, the marginal portions l9 may be either too far apart or ifbrought into abutment with each other, one would creep onto and overlapthe other.

It will now be seen that the method of manufacture may be substantiallyautomatic and is of a continuous nature, well adapted for high speedproduction in a relatively inexpensive manner.

I claim:

1. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provideopposed walls forming a generally flat tubular structure, comprising afront or outer wall and a rear wall having complementary wall sectionsmeeting each other along a central longitudinal line, the wall sectionshaving their marginal portions folded along parallel lines to lie withinthe tubular structure. a separate filling spacer cushioning stripelement positioned in the latter to lie wholly fiat between saidmarginal portions and the outer wall, and lock stitching including aseries of stitches each of which is of generally arcuate form so thateach interconnects said wall sections and passes through the marginalportions and the filler element without passing completely through theouter wall, whereby the strip element serves as a spacer control for themarginal portions, the stitches engaging so little of the filler elementas to assure that it will remain flat along its center, certain of thestitches being free of the outer wall and others of the stitches havingblind stitch engagement with the outer wall, the said wall sectionshaving integral cushioning portions along said marginal fold lines, atleast one of said cushioning portions being maintained substantiallytubular in cross section by abutment with each other under the tensionof the stitches and according to the spacing determined by the stripelement.

2. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provideopposed walls forming a generally flat tubular structure, comprising afront or outer wall and a rear wall having complementary wall sectionsmeeting each other along a central longitudinal line, the wall sectionshaving their marginal portions folded along parallel lines to lie withinthe tubular structure, and stitching including generally arcuate threadportions comprising a series of lock stitches, each of said arcuatethread portions passing through the wall sections and the marginalportions there of without passing completely through the outer wall,certain of said arcuate thread portions having blind stitch engagementwith the outer wall within the tubular structure and others of thearcuate thread portions being wholly free of said outer wall, said wallsections being provided with longitudinal tubular cushioning portionsalong their fold lines integral therewith, at least one of saidcushioning portions being maintained tubular by abutment with each otheralong said central longitudinal line under the tension of said arcuatethread portions and being otherwise free of each other.

3. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provideopposed walls forming a generally flat tubular structure, comprising afront or outer wall and a rear wall having complementary wall sectionsmeeting each other along a central longitudinal line, the wall sectionshaving their marginal portions folded along parallel lines to lie withinthe tubular structure, and stitching including generally arcuate threadportions comprising a series of lock stitches, each of said arcuatethread portions passing through the wall sections and the marginalportions thereof without completely passing through the outer wall,certain of said arcuate thread portions having blind stitch engagementwith the outer wall within the tubular structure and others of thearcuate thread portions being wholly free of said outer wall, said wallsections being provided with longitudinal tubular cushioning portionsalong their fold lines integral therewith, said cushioning portionsbeing maintained tubular by abutment with each other along said centrallongitudinal line under the tension of said. arcuate thread portions andbeing otherwise free of each other, said stitching includinglongitudinal thread portions lying along the outside of the respectivewall sections, comprising an interrupted thread portion on one wallsection and a continuous bobbin thread on the other wall section, forsubstantially continuous engagement with said cushioning portions.

4. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provideopposed walls forming a generally flat tubular structure, comprising afront or outer wall and a rear wall having complementary wall sectionsmeeting each other along a central longitudinal line, the wall sectionshaving their marginal portions folded along parallel lines to lie withinthe tubular structure, and stitching including generally arcuate threadportions comprising a series of lock stitches, each of said arcuatethread portions passing through the wall sections and the marginalportions thereof without passing completely through the outer wall,certain of said arcuate thread portions having blind stitch engagementwith the outer wall within the tubular structure and others of thearcuate thread portions being wholly free of said outer wall, said wallsections being provided with longitudinal tubular cushioning portionsalong their fold lines integral therewith, said cushioning portionsbeing maintained tubular by abutment with each other along said centrallongitudinal line under the tension of said arcuate thread portions andbeing otherwise free of each other, said stitching includinglongitudinal thread portions lying along the outside of the respectivewall sections, comprising an interrupted thread portion on one wallsection and a continuous bobbin thread on the other wall section, forsubstantially continuous engagement with said cushioning portions, and aspacer strip element of felt-like material within the tubular structureextending from edge to edge thereof, all of said arcuate thread portionspassing through the element whereby the same is secured and the tensionon the thread cushioned for controlling the tubular cushioning portions,and the strip element being in direct contact with the tubular portionsto space the stitch thread thereat for maintaining a uniform abuttingrelation of the tubular portions.

5. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provideopposed walls forming a generally fiat tubular structure, comprising afront or outer wall and a rear wall having complementary wall sectionshaving their marginal portions folded along parallel lines to lie withinthe tubular structure, a filling spacer strip element positioned in thelatter to lie between said marginal portions and the outer wall, andstitching including a series of stitches each of which is of generallyarcuate form and each interconnecting said wall sections and passingthrough the filler element and the said marginal portions in spacedrelation to said parallel lines, certain of the stitches engaging saidouter wall, the complementary wall section having longitudinal flap-likeportions along said parallel lines abutting each other to conceal saidelement and to lie in a plane, the element being in contact with saidabutting portions and cooperating with the stitch thread and serving asa spacer for parts thereof to prevent the stitch thread from so pullingon the abutting portions as to cause them to overlap on each other.

6. The method of making shoulder straps, including centrallysuperimposing a narrow longitudinal strip element on a relatively widestrip member, then folding the member about the element in a constantgradual manner to form a front wall and an opposite rear wall, includinginfolding themarginal portions of the member along parallel lines andfolding the sides of the member toward each other at the edges of theelement to provide said rear wall on the member, centrallylongitudinally reversely folding the member and the element into U-shapein cross section and so that the central fold in the element liesslightly inward of a plane passing a plane with the parallel line foldsbeing in abutment with each other to form cushioning tubes along theparallel line folds.

'l. The method of making shoulder straps. including centrallysuperimposing a narrow longitudinal strip element on a relatively widestrip member, then folding the member about the element in a constantgradual manner to form a flat tube having opposed front and rear walls,including infolding the marginal portions of the member along parallellines and folding the sides of the member toward other at the edges ofthe element to provide said rear wall on the member, centrallylongitudinally reversely folding the member and the element into U-shapein cross section and so that the central fold in the element liesslightly inward of a plane passing through the said parallel line foldsin the member, then stitching through the central fold and the parallelline folds in spaced relation to the fold lines thereof, at a relativelylow tension.

the stitching being effected along a path such that the thread does notpass through the outer wall of the member, at intervals elevating thecentral fold in the member and element 50 that the stitch thread iscaused to have blind stitch engagement with said outer wall of themember, then unfolding the central fold so that the shoulder strap liesin a plane with the parallel line folds in abutment with each other.

8. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provide afront wall and a rear wall that is centrally split to provide aplurality of wall sections, the latter having inwardly folded marginalportions abutting each other in a plane to form a seam, and stitchinginterconnecting the wall sections including stitches following curvedpaths passing through the wall sections and the marginal infoldedportions thereof and being free of said front wall, said stitchingincluding relatively widely spaced stitches passing in curved pathsthrough the wall sections and the marginal portions and engaging saidfront wall.

9. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to providefront and rear walls forming a generally flat tubular structure andcross stitching interconnecting the meeting edge portions of the memberto form a seam in the rear wall closing the tubular structure, saidstitching crossing the seam only within the shoulder strap so that theoutside surface of the strap is free of cross stitching, and the latterincluding stitches following curved paths transverse to the member tothus draw the edge portions into abutment with each other, with saidedge portions lying in a common plane, the stitches being free of thefront wall except that certain of the stitches have blind stitchengagement with the front wall at widely spaced points.

10. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provide afront wall and a rear wall that is centrally split to provide a plurality of wall sections abutting each other in a plane to form a seam;the wall sections having inwardly folded marginal portions, a fillerelement in said member, and stitching interconnecting the wall sectionsincluding stitches following curved paths passing through the wallsections and the marginal portions and the filler element, certain ofsaid stitches engaging the front wall and others of said stitches beingfree of said front wall, whereby the front wall is secured at relativelywidely spaced points.

11. A shoulder strap having a one-piece strip member folded to provide afront wall and a rear wall that is centrally split to provide aplurality of wall sections abutting each other in a plane to form ascam; the wall sections having inwardly folded marginal portions, afiller element in said member, and stitching interconnecting the wallsections including stitches following curved paths passing through thewall sections and the marginal portions and the filler element, certainof said stitches engaging the front wall and others of said stitchesbeing free of said front wall, whereby the front wall is secured atrelatively widely spaced points, the abutting portions of the wallsections being otherwise free of the stitching so that the folded edgesare adapted to form smooth portions of the shoulder strap.

12. A shoulder strap according to claim 11 wherein at least one of saidabutting portions is maintained tubular by the said abutment, to afforda cushioning action adjacent to the stitchmg.

13. A shoulder strap according to claim 10 wherein the filler element isof a cushioning material, and the curved stitches pass through so smalla portion of the filler element as not to cause the same to buckletoward the seam.

SARA STEIN.

